Posted on 02/16/2007 4:56:04 AM PST by Spiff
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who said Wednesday night he is making a bid for the White House, will not be America’s 44th president because he supports abortion rights and gay rights and has been married three times.
At least so says Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
Land is considered an influential evangelical leader, and he has a new book, due out next month, entitled The Divided States of America? What Liberals and Conservatives Are Missing in the God-and-Country Shouting Match — with a foreword written by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn).
Land told The Hill in an interview this week that as it stands now, the top tier of Republican presidential hopefuls lacks a candidate social conservatives can be fully comfortable voting for.
Beginning with Giuliani, Land said “the vast majority” of social conservative voters will not vote for the former mayor even if he gets the nomination and faces off against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).
“If he wins, he’ll do so without social conservatives,” Land said.
While Giuliani’s moderate to liberal stances on social issues are beginning to be discussed more and more in conservative circles, Land said the mayor’s annulment, divorce and subsequent third marriage will seal the deal against hizzoner for social conservatives.
“It’s got to surface at some point,” Land said. “There are too many social conservatives talking about it, and it applies to [Newt] Gingrich, too.”
Land talks often about the weight social conservatives carry within the Republican Party, citing exit polling and warning GOP candidates that they can “no more win without conservative voters than a Democrat can without overwhelming support from blacks.”
“That’s the reality of politics in the early 21st century,” he said.
Land looked at the current field of Republican candidates and offered his appraisal — not endorsement — of those he views to be in contention.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has to “convince” social conservatives his conversions on issues such as abortion and gay rights are authentic rather than politically motivated, Land said, adding that many conservatives will likely give Romney the benefit of the doubt on his changed abortion position.
“Conservatives would see that as ‘He’s seen the light,’” Land said. “They would see it as less of a flip-flop than as a journey.”
Of Romney’s Mormon religion, Land said it’s not a “deal-killer.”
Land said he has encouraged the former governor to reach out to social conservatives about his religion and appeal to “the American people’s sense of fair play,” much as President Kennedy addressed his Catholicism in front of the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in 1960.
As for oft-perceived Republican frontrunner Sen. John McCain, Land paused, then said the Arizona senator’s strengths with independent voters are what is hurting him with socially conservative voters.
McCain’s “maverick” streak may be a winning personality trait for reporters and independents, but social conservatives consider it to be a sign of unpredictability.
“They don’t like being surprised,” Land said.
Though Land doesn’t question McCain’s consistency on abortion issues, he said McCain’s involvement in the “Gang of 14” — the bipartisan Senate group that prevented the “nuclear” option on judicial nominees — and his refusal to support anti-gay marriage proposals severely hurts his chances with traditional-values voters.
In the end, Land said, social conservatives are concerned about the kind of judges a President McCain would nominate.
“Voting pro-life is not enough,” Land said. “He has got to express himself in other venues.”
Add that to the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform law, legislation that sparked an outcry in religious organizations, and McCain, despite a conservative record and his continued, loyal backing of President Bush, does not come in as a favorite of the religious right.
But Land said the second tier of candidates offers voters of his ilk two contenders so-called values voters could get behind — Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R).
Both men are considered long-shots at this early stage of the game, but Land said impressive fundraising or gains in the polls could open a door to either candidate through which social conservatives might run.
“They don’t have to convince other social conservatives they’re one of them,” Land said. “They just have to convince other social conservatives they can win.”
Land called Huckabee a “Republican Bill Clinton,” praising the longtime governor’s charisma and affability with voters.
“I think he could catch fire,” Land said.
As it stands today, probably a good 10 months away from the first votes, Land said Romney and McCain “get the first chance to close the deal,” but concedes with those two as the frontrunners, social conservatives are left without a candidate who makes them 100 percent comfortable.
“That’s why if I were a Brownback supporter or a Romney supporter, I wouldn’t be all that discouraged,” he said.
As for Democrats, Land challenges the assumption held by many that Clinton will be the Democratic nominee, giving her “50-50” chances.
He said as he talks to conservative voters, he hears the word “calculating” used most often to describe the former first lady and cites “Clinton-Bush” fatigue as one of the factors working against her.
“When people talk to me about her, their facial expressions change,” he said.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1785690/posts
Half of voters (49 percent) say they are hoping there is someone new out there who they have yet to hear about who will enter the presidential contest. Republicans (53 percent) are a bit more interested than Democrats (46 percent) for someone new to come along.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070201/1a_cover01.art.htm
(have to summarize, cannot post directly from Gannett)
Only twenty percent of pubbies knew that Rudy supports abortion rights and civil unions for gays.
Nearly as many pubbies thought Rudy was pro-life as thought he was pro-choice.
One in five pubbies said they would not support Rudy given his position on those subjects.
Another 25 percent of pubbies said those positions made them much less likey to support him.
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I can see why the Rudy boosters want to declare the race over before it's started. Their RINO has nothing to gain and a whole lot to lose once his liberal views become more widely known and as other new faces get more exposure.
Well I guess Richard Land is going to sit out the next election.
YAWN.
I agree - Pat Robertson speaks for very few real christians
Ping to post 141 - it will give you a lot of encouragement!
Perhaps I should have added the words "To Christians," before the next sentence "Those are not for political reasons, those are based on religious reasons."
You are showing an intolerance toward the Religious Right, and it is time to lower the rhetoric. We have been voting GOP since Ronald Reagan until this year. Don't think for one second that it is an automatic vote, it must be earned.
Great! Good! He's on my radar screen, too. He's running great ads here in Iowa.
Let's take a poll.
The Rudy supporters claim that when the anti-Rudy people post charts and graphs with facts about Rudy, it's called spam.
Is it called spam when the Rudybots post charts and graphs that put Rudy in a favorable light?
Just asking.
Maybe you'd get an answer if you stopped using the terms "RINOs" and "Rudybots."
While your reference to Rudy supporters as RINOs or Rudybots is at best moronic, every Rudy supporter I have encountered on FR is committed to supporting the party nominee. Rudy or not.
Check out post #141 for more encouragement as to what is happening underneath the MSM beauty contest polling.
Jerry Falwell will make a statement. I know for a fact that he will not accept the abortion, partial birth abortion, infant stem cell research, or assisted suicide positions of the left.
Really? Let's take a poll and find out.
If you're savy, you'll fight like hell to support your favorite GOP candidate in the primaries, then work to make sure the eventual GOP nominee wins the general election.
He's on target if he thinks y'all don't care for Rudy. He's wrong if he thinks Rudy can't win.
I wonder how many are paid rudy trolls for the internet by some viral ad outfit.
He's on target if he thinks y'all don't care for Rudy. He's wrong if he thinks Rudy can't win. But again, I ask--if he's opposed to Rudy, then why is he taking--how can he accept-- a book endorsement from Lieberman?
If the elements in the GOP supporting Rudy were savvy, they would realize that running far left in 2008 is a recipe for electoral disaster. I can only conclude that they yearn to re-create the glory days of 1992.
We are!
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